HEROES PROJECT
“Peace and Hopes Heroes”
We are looking for students, teachers and classrooms to participate in the Heroes Project. If you are interested and can help please have your students do reports about their heroes.
The Heroes project encourages young people to seek out role models who are inspirational because of their tireless compassion and dedicated service to others. We want students to find heroes that they can pattern their lives after, people who go about their daily business making the needs of others the central focus of their work -- individuals who have the rare ability to put the common good ahead of their personal gain or recognition.
We ask that the reports be about "everyday heroes," not famous entertainers, athletes, or public figures. We want to feature stories (and audio and video) about individuals who have unselfishly committed themselves to improving the lives of others. The reports can be any length and any format. They can be written, audio, or video presentations. If reports are written please include photographs of the heroes if you have them.
While many young people regard their parents as their heroes (especially Moms it seems) we ask that the students choose someone other than their parents.
Please contact John at hoperivermusic@yahoo.com if you have questions.
Peace and Hope HEROES AWARD
The Bridges of Peace and Hope Project chooses one individual each year to honor with the Bridges of Peace and Hope Heroes Award. Our 2007 winner was Dr. Ann Hines, founder of the Hanahoe Memorial Children’s Clinic, a health clinic that provided free health care to families in need for over 35 years. To see photos and read a story about Dr. Hines scroll to the bottom of this page.
Our 2008 winner was Colonel Mark Cook from the UK. Colonel Cook started Hope and Homes for Children, a charity that helps find homes for the world's most vulnerable children, orphans of AIDs and war.
PLEASE Submit for HEROES AWARD by November 1, 2010
The 2010 HEROES AWARD recipient will be chosen from the reports submitted by you and your students. All student and teacher reports submitted by November 1, 2010 will be considered in the selection process. A winner will be chosen by the BoPH Heroes Award Committee and the winner will be announced by December 1, 2010.
Contact John Farrell by email to learn how to submit your reports.
hoperivermusic@yahoo.com
2007 Bridges of Peace and Hope Heroes Award
Dr. Ann Hines, second from left, winner of the 2007 Bridges of Peace and Hope Heroes Award
Article from the Danbury News Times, Danbury, CT
Danbury's 'Mother Teresa' Receives Bridges of Peace and Hope Heroes Award
Author: Susan Tuz Staff Writer
DANBURY -- There was a feeling of joy and holiday cheer in the air at the Creasy Auditorium in Danbury Hospital on Saturday morning. Dr. Ann Hines was being honored for her years of service to the community at a special family holiday concert to benefit Hanahoe Memorial Children's Clinic, which Hines founded in 1974 and runs today. Hines was the first recipient of the "Peace and Hope Heroes Award" from the Bridges of Peace and Hope project.
"I think that John Farrell's organization and what it is trying to do is a wonderful thing," Hines said moments before receiving the award. "Seeing children involved with music and international cooperation is wonderful. I'm honored to be recognized by them in this way."
Farrell is a songwriter and author who founded the Bridges of Peace and Hope project, which is a diverse international network of students, teachers, artists and friends working together to promote respect, understanding and social justice by collaborating on educational projects that advance global awareness and cooperation. It provides assistance to vulnerable people, especially children, around the world. Hines meets the criteria to be the recipient of the first award from the group, as she has provided medical assistance to children in Danbury for 33 years, Farrell said.
"The Heroes project encourages young people to seek out role models who are inspirational because of their tireless compassion and dedicated service to others," Farrell said. "We want students to find heroes that they can pattern their lives after, people who go about their daily business making the needs of others the central focus of their work -- individuals who have the rare ability to put the common good ahead of their personal gain or recognition." Farrell went on to say that Dr. Hines "embodies the qualities of tireless compassion, ceaselessly listening to and attending to the needs of those that enter the clinic each day. She is a hero living in our midst, keeping hope alive for those less fortunate and going about the business of caring for families in need, regardless of their financial status."
For Hines, the ambition to become a doctor was inspired by a desire to aid those less fortunate. She was the first doctor in her family and initially thought of becoming a missionary. Through her marriage to Paul, a chemistry professor at Western Connecticut State University, she came to work at Danbury Hospital's pediatric clinic. But she wanted to do more for the children of poor families in the community.
Taking a small inheritance from her parents, Cyril and Mary Hanahoe, Hines took a year lease on a small office space on Osborne Street to found the city's first and only free children's clinic. Now situated on 205 Main St., Hines named the clinic in honor of her parents. Over the years, Hines has been the clinic's primary physician, working for her first 12 years with no salary, with fellow pediatricians pitching in.
"She is the Mother Teresa of Danbury," said Dr. Jack Fong, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Danbury Hospital. "The department is extremely proud of her. She is one of the reasons this is a caring community that provides service for children without regard to their financial capabilities. "We can all walk tall because of what Dr. Hines does," Fong continued. "She is the reason we've become guardian angels of our children and not just doing lip service to their needs. Not every community can be so fortunate as to have such a giving and committed person in it. We have what other communities dream of."
